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“Kawaida is a communitarian African philosophy created in the context of the African American liberation struggle and developed as an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world. Forged in the crucible of struggle in the 1960’s and continuously addressing both ongoing and new issues, Kawaida reflects the thinking and concerns of The Organization Us in a movement engaged in intense ideological and practical struggle to change society and the way we think about and approach it and the world. Kawaida is, of necessity, then, constantly concerned with the interrelated issues which pose and frame the task of achieving an engaged and empowered community, ajust and good society and a good and sustainable world. Within this overarching framework Kawaida can be understood in terms of seven basic dual emphases: (1) philosophy and practice; (2) culture and community; (3) tradition and reason; (4) dialog and recovery; (5) language and logic; (6) critique and corrective; and (7) synthesis and exchange with the world.”
-Maulana Karenga
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Abibitumi Points
Sounds like you may want to join the study group @kevlew
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Good question. I’ll be posting some more excerpt from this piece in the coming days. However, Kawaida argues that a cultural revolution is necessary in order to effectively wage the revolutionary struggle necessary for African freedom. Hence, culture is inseparable from power and the eradication of African oppression by Europeans is also necessary in order for us to fully realize ourselves as African people.
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This is true! A cultural revolution is the best engine for liberation. However, an area that will need work is the demonstration of benefits on various forms of media on why an ideological and cultural switch to an African centered framework works. Folks have to also see it, and not just read it.
A great example is the number of Africans in the diaspora repatriating to Africa. My guess is that it’s increased exponentially over the last 5 years due to social media visually demonstrating that repatriation equals a peace of mind, land, wealth, etc. Same could be done with other form of liberation, i.e., embracing an African language equals access to more _____. Garvey talked about propaganda in depth.
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